Trouble with Grug
by Hannoie
Summary: One-shot. Eep and Guy are really in love, and Guy really likes to stay with the Croods, even though they have their differences. Grug still isn't very happy about Eep's and Guy's relationship, though. Will he ever be able to accept the truth? Or will it just get worse, when their relationship deepens? I suck at summaries ;)


The big Macawnivore named Chunky was about to outrun my Bear Owl. It wouldn't have bothered me that much, if my father Grug hadn't been sitting on the big saber-toothed cat's back, with a big grin all over his face because he thought he would win this race. I bent down over my Bear Owl's back, and pressed my knees into her sides.

"Come on, Kitty, let's show Grug and Chunky we're not that easily beaten." Her only response was an incredible sprint, though I didn't know if it was because of my words or my body position. Grug's smile faded when he saw how fast I caught up with him. Our pets ran side by side until they finally crossed the finish line, both of them breathing heavily. I and dad eagerly looked down at Gran, who smiled up at us with her almost toothless mouth.

"Eep and Kitty won!" she called out with a laugh and a spiteful look at Grug. Even though he wasn't the most intelligent of men, he perceived it, and protested loudly to her words.

"Hey, you wanted Eep to win! How can I know I didn't win, and you just told us Eep won because you didn't want me to win?" he shouted and gestured toward Gran.

It wasn't like they hated each other. Not after our trip through a dangerous jungle where we all almost died, and we really thought for a moment that Grug was gone. They just didn't get along too well. Gran would always root for me when I competed against dad. Gran would always root for anybody competing against dad, and vice versa.

"I'm sorry, Grug, but Eep really won. In the end Kitty is faster than Chunky", my mom Ugga confirmed, walking towards us with a lovely smile on her lips. She always smiled nowadays, and her hair was always down. Dad used to say it made us look alike. I liked that, because with her hair down, my mom was beautiful. I wanted to be beautiful too.

With a wild victory cry I threw myself down from Kitty's back and right into the arms of Guy. He couldn't carry my weight, so he fell and landed under me.

"Ugh", he said with a little grimace of pain. I laughed and threw my arms around his neck in a hug powered by my victory.

"You're breaking my neck, you're breaking my neck, you're breaking my neck, let go, let go, let goo..." Finally I let go of his not yet broken neck, and he gave me a beautiful smile. Even though he was weak, thin and had a very poor appetite, he was really handsome, and intelligent. He was the one who had shown us fire, shoes and how to handle everything in the jungle. He was the only reason we were still alive.

A squeeze reached my ears, a panicked "daaa". I quickly got to my feet, and tried really hard not to laugh when I saw an unusually squashed Belt look at me with indignation and mortification. I failed, and the poor animal looked even more hurt, which only made me laugh more. Guy, too, got to his feet, and approached me warily.

"Can you hug me without breaking my neck, or one of my ribs, or my anything?" he asked, suspiciously. I stopped laughing.

"Yes, I promise", I said, still smiling. I threw myself into his arms once again, but more careful this time. I gazed into his eyes for a moment, before two big hands pulled us apart.

"Dad!" I complained. He would never give us a moment by ourselves. "Let us be!"

"No! You're starting to get too close, too good friends", he said and glared at both of us. Any other day I would have denied it, I would have brushed aside his words. I would have tried to convince him that he saw things between me and Guy that didn't exist. Not today though. This had lasted too long, and I knew we had to have this conversation sooner or later. I chose sooner.

"So what, then?" I asked in a harsh voice. "What if I am in love with Guy? What if I want to be together with him without your big hands between us?" I met his gaze, partly because I wanted him to see how serious I was, partly because I didn't dare to look at Guy.

"Then... Well..." Grug muttered, surprised by my sincerity. I gave Guy a quick glance, while Grug still groped for words. He looked as surprised as my father, but unlike Grug, he also looked happy.

Guy opened his mouth before Grug did.

"I agree with Eep. You just keep interfering with our relationship, and I... I don't know how much longer I can take it, really." He turned to me. "I love you too, Eep. I can't say it was love at first sight, but... You're really nice, and fun, and strong. You're totally perfect." We lost ourselves in each other's eyes again, until we, again, were pulled apart by my dad.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. You just can't stay away from each other! You're not grown-ups yet! Wait. There's time for all that romantic stuff later." He turned to Guy. "You stay away from my daughter. She's sixteen summers, and you're seventeen. I don't want to see anything but friendship between you until you're at least twenty! And that's that!" Before I had time to answer him he turned around and walked away, angry as I'd never seen him before, and that doesn't say little. I was just about to follow him, to scream at him, to tell him he had no right to decide what I did or did not before I was twenty. I was just about to do it, when I felt Guy's hand on my arm.

"No", he said and shook his head. "Give it some time, and talk again later when you've both calmed down." I growled at him angrily, but took his advice and turned the other way around. This wasn't the right time to continue our "conversation". I went looking for some rocks to throw around, but promised myself to talk with Grug about this again, soon.

When I had thrown enough rocks to not throw one at Grug, I returned to my family. I was met by an odd sight. Something that reminded me of the kill circle I and my family had done when we felt frightened was ahead of me. Only it wasn't a full circle, but a semicircle, protecting Guy from Grug. Grug had murder in his eyes, I could tell. He was ready to rip Guy apart in little pieces, and my family was the only thing that was between him and my precious love. I took a closer look at Guy. He held his hand around his jaw in a weird way. I didn't understand, not until I saw the bruise between his fingers.

My father had hit my boyfriend, because he was my boyfriend. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. And it was _not _acceptable.

With a roar of anger I ran forward and threw myself around Grug's neck. He didn't expect it, and therefore I managed to get him out of balance and down on the ground. I caught his fighting arms, and with a strength I didn't know I had, I held them still.

"Look", I shouted angrily. "You're my father, so I don't want to fight you. But I will fight you if that is what it takes to protect Guy from you. I will even kill you if that is what it takes to protect Guy from you. I'm sixteen summers! I'm not a child anymore, and neither is Guy. We're grown-ups now, dad. You may not like it, but that's the way it is. I want to be together with Guy, and hitting him will not stop us, it will only stop you", I finished in an intimidating and angry voice. While I had been screaming, dad anger had drained from him.

"I thought I knew you", dad whispered in a hurt voice. "I thought I got to know you during that trip through the jungle." He shook his head. "I guess I was wrong then." I let go of him and shook my head, too.

"You know me, dad. You just can't accept who I am. You never could. Not before the trip. And apparently not after the trip either." Disappointed, I turned around. I took Guy's hand and went away from there, out in the jungle. It was stupid, really. Even though my family wasn't as overprotective as before, the jungle still was a dangerous place at night. I didn't care. With my strength and Guy's intelligence we could survive a night in the jungle without the rest of my family, and especially where I planned to take us.

I kept walking until I reached my favourite place in the entire jungle. I hadn't shown this to anybody except from Guy, so I knew they wouldn't find us. It was a valley, surrounded by rather high cliffs. It had only one entrance; a ravine so narrow you couldn't even walk two abreast in it. The entrance was hidden by a lot of ivy; green, lush and opaque.

The reason I loved the valley was not only because it was so well hidden – it was also covered, completely covered, in big, soft white flowers. They grew really tightly, so tightly I had never seen the ground beneath them. Not only were they really soft, they were also almost indestructible. I had both failed to pick them, and to crush them under my feat. They held for anything, and that was just a part of the magic with this place. Guy loved it as much as I did.

When we reached the middle of the valley bathing in the sweet scent of the flowers, I turned around and met his gaze.

"I'm sorry", I began. "My dad is..."

"No, I'm the one to be sorry", Guy interrupted. "I tried to talk to him before he had calmed down. It was stupid, and it only made him angrier when I tried to explain how much you meant to me... I'm sorry." Something suddenly changed in his eyes, and he leaned forward, until our lips met for just a moment or two. The feeling was more amazing than anything I had ever felt before.

"What... Was that?" I asked breathlessly.

"I... I don't know", he answered, with an unsure look in his eyes.

"Well, what do you call it?"

"I think... I'll call it a kiss. Do you like it?"

"I love it", I answered, not really sure if he meant the name or the action. It didn't matter. I loved both. I leaned forward, and kissed him again, deeper, longer. When we parted again, I wanted more. I told him. He agreed. And even though we didn't really know what it was we did, or why we did it, I gave myself to him and he gave himself to me, and it felt completely right.


End file.
